The invention relates to a method for controlling and monitoring an air-conditioning system of a data processing installation comprising at least one server switchgear cabinet for accommodating electrical units, wherein hot air is sucked by an air-conditioning device via a hot air suction, is cooled and is blown via a cold air injection indirectly or directly into the server switchgear cabinet or into a cold aisle which is confined by a row of server switch gear cabinets, wherein cold air is sucked from at least one of the server switchgear cabinets from the cold aisle and is trans-ported into a hot aisle separated from the cold aisle or into the ambient space, wherein, by temperature sensors, the temperature of supply air and exhaust air of the air-conditioning device on the inlet side and on the outlet side and, by further temperature sensors, the temperature of a cooling medium passing one or heat exchangers in the air-conditioning device for dissipation of the heat loss on the inlet side and on the outlet side are determined, analyzed and the power of at least one blower in the air-conditioning device is controlled.
The invention further relates to a respective apparatus for performing the method.
Data processing installations normally consist of a plurality of server switchgear cabinets into which individual electronic modules (so-called racks) having their own blowers with cold air suctions and hot air outlets for cooling are installed.
These server switchgear cabinets are arranged in several rows and are aligned such that cold air suctions or hot air outlets, respectively, of the individual server switchgear cabinets are opposite to each other and respective cold aisles and hot aisles are alternatively formed between the server switchgear cabinets. In an arrangement of two rows of server switchgear cabinet normally a cold aisle is formed between the two rows of server switchgear cabinets. Hot air outlets of the server switchgear cabinets are located at the outside of this arrangement and blow hot air into the ambient space.
Different concepts for air-conditioning or in particular for cooling these data processing installations are known from the prior art.
For example, it may be provided that hot air blown from server switchgear cabinets is centrally sucked and cooled by an air-conditioning system, and the cold air is blown into the cold aisle. To enhance efficiency of cooling, normally the cold aisle is sealed off against the hot aisles are the ambient space, respectively, laterally and at the top. Such arrangements are for example described in documents WO 03/083631 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,366 B2.
In view of a particularly effective air-conditioning of such arrangement, so-called inline air-conditioning devices have proven which are arranged between the server switchgear cabinets at specific distances, depending on the power loss of the data processing installation to be dissipated. These air-conditioning devices comprise blowers which suck the hot air from the hot aisles or from the ambient air through hot air suctions, cool it by one or more heat exchangers circulated by water and blow it through cold air injections into the sealed off cold aisles.
Product catalogue “RITTAL Handbuch 32/IT-Solutions”, pages 726 ff as well as information brochure “RITTAL IT-Cooling Solutions”, 03/08 for example, present respective air-conditioning devices under the name of “LCP Inline”. LCP means Liquid Cooling Package and describes air-conditioning devices which may be placed between server switchgear cabinets within data processing installations and comprise heat exchangers having a water cooling.
In view of an optimum computer performance as well as in view of the operational reliability it is required that on the inlet side supply air having a specific maximum air temperature is offered to the racks within the server switchgear cabinets. If this temperature is reached or even exceeded, working life of the installed components may be drastically reduced resulting in high service costs. Therefore, it is required that inward flow of cold air is at all time adjusted to the demand of individually operating racks. To achieve this, a temperature controlled regulation of the blower capacity is currently used. If, for example, the temperature within the cold aisle rises, the blower capacity is increased.
DE 10 2005 011 179 B4 describes a method for monitoring the cooling mode in a unit arrangement having a receiving housing, in particular in a switchgear cabinet, wherein in its interior electrical units are accommodated and which has a cooling device. The cooling device is in air-guiding communication with the interior of the receiving housing via at least one air inlet and at least one blower aperture, wherein an inlet temperature sensor measures the temperature of air to be cooled which is supplied via the air inlet and an outlet temperature sensor measures the temperature of the cooled air exiting via the blower aperture and wherein the temperatures measured by the output temperature sensor are analyzed by a computing unit and are used for controlling the cooling device. Thereby it is provided that a cooling medium is supplied to the cooling device through a feed line and is removed through a return line, wherein in inlet temperature sensor is associated with the feed line and an outlet temperature sensor is associated with the return line, and wherein a difference signal is derived by a computing unit from temperature values measured by temperature sensors in the feed and return lines. Further, a volume flow meter is associated with the cooling device, feed or return line, wherein a signal corresponding to the quantity Q of heat, determined from the signal of the volume flow meter and from the difference signal of measured temperatures, is transmitted to a display unit by the computing unit. Furthermore, it is provided that a switch signal corresponding to the difference signal is supplied by which the cooling power of the cooling device is controlled wherein depending on the switch signal, the number of revolutions of at least one blower of the cooling device is controlled.
Generally, this method provides a sufficiently adequate cooling power and it may be correspondingly adjusted in case of insufficient cooling operation, wherein the overhead for monitoring the cooling operation can be kept low. Current requirements concerning energy efficiency and even facility management, however, require new control methods.